SATURDAY sees the 166th Merseyside league derby as Liverpool play host to Everton at Anfield.

SATURDAY sees the 166th Merseyside league derby as Liverpool play host to Everton at Anfield.

One of the oldest fixtures on the footballing calendar, the Merseyside derby is steeped in huge tradition and comes with a guarantee to divide loyalties across the city and beyond.

The first of these hotly contested affairs took place on 13 October 1894 as a crowd of 44,000 witnessed a 3-0 victory for the Blues.

In the return match later that season, a 2-2 draw saw the great arch rivals share the spoils, but it wasn't long since the footballing neighbours had shared more than just points.

Despite the Reds' superior record over the Toffees - 72 to 62 wins and 58 draws in all competitions - Evertonians will take pride in telling you 'we were here first'.

Everton started life in 1878 under the guidance of John Houlding, but when, in 1892, the landlord was confronted over an increase in rent, the Blues upped sticks to make the short journey to Goodison Park where they remain to this day.

Undeterred, Houlding regrouped to form a new side known as Liverpool Football Club and the Merseyside derby was born.

While arguments rage over Dixie Dean's amazing 60 goal season in 1927-28 and Ian Rush's incredible tally of 25 goals in 34 derby appearances, this fixture has become one of, if not, the most vibrant and fiercely contested of its kind worldwide.

Between 1994-97 Roy Evans' Liverpool team failed to beat Joe Royle's Everton side in any derby game. Billed as the 'Spice Boys', Liverpool always seemed to struggle when up against Everton's 'Dogs of War' and despite the relative gap between the two sides come the season's end, former Blues striker, Royle always had the last laugh when facing the Reds.

Since Royle's departure however, the tables have begun to turn in Liverpool's favour.

Following Walter Smith's appointment to the Goodison hotseat in July 1998, The Toffee's have come unstuck against their arch rivals. Just one win from seven - courtesy of a solitary Kevin Campbell goal at Anfield in September 1999 - has reserved boasting supremacy for the Red half of the city.

Gerard Houllier's Liverpool have won the last three meetings - the latest being a comfortable 3-1 win at Goodison earlier this season.

However, last April's encounter is still the derby on everyone's lips.

In a thrilling encounter, the Reds took the lead twice before David Unsworth made it 2-2 from the penalty spot with seven minutes to play. With Reds and Blues alike settling for a well-earned draw, Liverpool veteran, Gary McAllister stepped up at the death to catch Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard off guard with an audacious 30-yard freekick.

The rest, as they say, is history. A history however, that Everton will be hoping to amend at Anfield on Saturday

DERBY DEFECTORS>

ABEL XAVIER has become the latest defector to trade colours across Stanley Park, but unlike a similar switch the season before, the Portuguese international's departure seemed to avoid controversy.

Much was made of Nick Barmby's switch from Goodison to Anfield in the summer of 2000, mainly because, despite the #6m price-tag, many Evertonians who had idolised their star player, felt shortchanged for the faith they had shown in him during his time with the Blues.

Such is the rivalry between the two clubs, that historically the business of trading players has been kept to a minimum.

Barmby was the first player to don the colours of both clubs since Don Hutchison joined Everton in 1998.

However, the fact that Hutchison had not worn the Red of Liverpool since 1994 made it easier for the Gwladys Street to accept him as Howard Kendall returned to former club, Sheffield United to rescue the Scottish international from first division obscurity.

In the wake of the furore surrounding Barmby's shock move following an impressive Euro 2000 campaign for England, you would be forgiven for thinking he was the first player to make the short journey between the two clubs.

But in truth however, a host of players have made that same journey in one direction or another down the years and are as follows:

Everton Career Liverpool Career>

Edgar Chadwick 1888-89 - 1898-99 1902-04

Billy Lacey 1908-12 1912-24

Dick Forshaw 1927-29 1919-27

Tosh Johnson 1930-34 1934-36

David Johnson 1969-72 - 1982-84 1976-82

Steve McMahon 1977-83 1985-91

Peter Beardsley 1991-93 1986-91

Gary Ablett 1992-96 1986-91

David Burrows 1994-95 1988-93

Nick Barmby 1996-2000 2000-Present

Abel Xavier 1999-2002 2002-Present

>

DERBY DAY OFFENDERS>

THE Merseyside derby is famous the world over, not least for the rivalry dividing families and friends across the city, but also for the full-blooded commitment guaranteed to be on show from both set of players.

Arguably, the derbies are the first ties Evertonians and Liverpudlians look for when the fixture list is printed at the start of each season and more often than not result in two of the most highly charged matches for both teams in any given campaign.

However, sometimes the intensity boils over to the point where commitment is clouded by controversy with the end product being an early bath for certain players.

Despite the local importance attached to the fixture however, it took nearly 90 years from the first Merseyside derby in 1894 for a player to be given his marching orders. Since then, only six meetings have been marred by the red card treatment.